Ties That Bind
by CoriMariee
Summary: After a long shift, Elliot checks on his sleeping son, and muses about the strength of the connections between himself and those he loves most. Set in the current season (19), but not cannon compliant. E/O pairing.


**Disclaimer: All characters featured here are owned by Dick Wolf/NBC Universal. This story was written for non-commercial/ fan entertainment purposes only**

In the stillness that was only truly present in a house with children between the hours of one am and three am, he walked quietly into his son's bedroom.

It had been a long shift for him at Queens SVU.

He'd come out of retirement for what he had agreed would be a six-month stint, training a brand new slate of rookies to repopulate and run the badly antiquated and ineffective Queens SVU.

They had never had a functioning department there before. All the years that Elliot had worked with Olivia in Manhattan, there had been rumors that Queens SVU had been full of dirty cops. Even some cops who might have committed offenses like the ones they were supposed to be investigating. But none of those rumors had ever been substantiated, and no matter how badly Elliot had wanted to deal with those jackholes himself, he never could have imagined leaving Olivia alone at Manhattan SVU in order to do so.

He eventually had left her however, for a different reason.

And though she had forgiven him for it, doing this job felt sort of like an atonement, as he still wasn't with her at work, but was now with her at home. The way it should have always been. And he still wasn't with her at work, had never gone back there, but now was doing something for a reason that made sense rather than leaving her because of his own overwhelming grief and shame over Jenna's death, which he had then refused to discuss with her for five years.

The reality of that choice and the strength it had take for her to let him back in her life would always be with him, But as he reached the side of his son's bed and gently brushed back the wavy hair of the child's bangs, he reflected on how Noah would always be with him too now.

It amazed him how a child not made from either of their DNA could be so like he and Olivia in personality and looks that no one believed that he was adopted unless they'd been there to see the story unfold.

From his medium brown hair that nearly curled at the end, and eyes the color of his own that sparkled with Olivia's light, to a kind but direct and inquisitive personality that reminded Elliot so much of both himself and of his wife that it was at once endearing and frustrating, and a vulnerability whenever he was hurt or scared was so much like Olivia's own that it broke Elliot's heart on a soul level every time the child was sad.

He'd always been protective of his kids. Always gone above and beyond to make sure they were safe and happy, but Noah gripped his emotions with a ferocity he guessed was partly due to who his mother was, biology be damned.

"Daddy, whatcha looking at?" Noah's sleepy voice startled Elliot out of his reverie, and his hand stilled from where it had been continuing to brush his son's hair back as he had mused.

"I'm looking at you kid. I missed you. I think you've grown in the twelve hours I've been gone."

"People don't grow that fast Daddy." Noah said matter-of-factly, the sleep slowly slipping from the boy's eyes as he focused on the conversation.

"How'd you get so smart?" Elliot said with a chuckle, affectionately ruffling his hair and displacing the bangs he had been smoothing back moments before in the process.

"You and Mommy. You're the smartest people I know. You guys and Uncle Munch, but Mommy says not to listen to him too much."

"Mommy's right. Only listen to Uncle Munch about half the time." Elliot said with a small laugh.

"I'm supposed to listen to you and Mommy all the time though, right?"

"You got it, kid, and right now I'm gonna tell you to go to sleep."

"But I wanna spend time with you Daddy." Noah said with a frown, his voice hitting that vulnerable note that sounded so much like his wife when she wanted just a few more minutes with him after he'd been called to a case.

"I'm off for the next few days Kid, so we can hang out when you come home from preschool tomorrow, and the job's only going to be for another two months then I'll be home like I used to be and you'll get bored of me again."

"I could never get bored of you Daddy. You're the coolest." Noah exclaimed as he threw his tiny body excitedly against his father's chest and wrapped his small arms around his father's neck.

"I'm glad you think so, Pal." Elliot responded with a warm chuckle.

"You are Daddy. I promise. Did you get justice for people today?"

Elliot's heart grew heavy at his son's question. Noah knew far too much about what the bad guys Elliot caught did to children. That was knowledge and experiences he would take from his son in a heartbeat, even if it meant never getting to know him or love him, but Elliot couldn't change the past for Noah, for Olivia, or for himself. So he did the best he could to work toward a better future for them all. Noah's comment helped remind him exactly why he was working with Queen's squad.

"Yeah, I got some justice for people Pal."

"See Daddy, I told you that you were the coolest. I know what I'm talking about."

Elliot chuckled inwardly. There was some of his own confident directness coming back to haunt him already in his son's self assured manner.

"And I know what I'm talking about too. Bed time now," Elliot countered in the same tone Noah had used on him.

In truth, he didn't really mind if Noah wanted to keep talking for a little while longer despite the hour. He really had missed the little guy. But Olivia would be concerned if Noah didn't get more sleep.

"Aww man! I guess, but Daddy, before I sleep, can you do the funny voices?"

Elliot laughed outright at that. Every since he'd come into Noah's life, he'd done silly voices when reading bedtime stories to him, and there were a few that Noah liked for him to do whether they were reading or not.

One was some sort of silly bee character that had been from some book Elliot had long forgotten the title of. And the other was an elephant that he thought might have been somewhat based on one from a book by Dr. Suess, but he wasn't sure anymore.

"Okay pal, just one. Which one do you want? Mr. Bee or Ellie?"

"Mr. Bee!" Noah said grinning broadly.

Elliot was mid insect soliloquy when he looked up from his son's face to see his wife standing in the doorway. Her hair was ruffled with sleep, and her eyes only half open as she peered into the room. She looked beautiful. Then again, she was always beautiful to him. The set of her jaw told him she meant business though, and Elliot realized this was not a time to focus purely on admiring her. This was the time to get their son to bed and to apologize to her for keeping their son awake before the crack of dawn.

Her words confirmed his thoughts.

"What are you guys doing awake? You should be sleeping Noah, and Elliot, you should be getting some rest too baby. You've been working a straight shift and you're not use to those anymore. Besides," she added in a softer tone, "The bed is cold without you."

"Your mom's right, pal. It's time to sleep." Elliot said in a tone that was gentle but broached no argument as he turned to look back at their little boy.

"Okay, Daddy, but can we finish Mr. Bee's story in the morning?"

"Sure kid." Elliot said tucking his son in.

Olivia approached the bed then, standing beside Elliot as she bent over to kiss their son, "Goodnight baby."

"Night Mommy. And Night Daddy." he said as his father placed a kiss right next to the spot where his mother had on his forehead. "I love you."

The little voice was suddenly filled with sleep and Elliot marveled at the young's ability to go from fully awake to dreamland in a matter of seconds. The little boy was out before they could reply

Standing together, Elliot and Olivia quietly watched as their son settled further into sleep.

After a few moments of just gazing at him. Olivia broke the silence.

"He's so special." she whispered reverently.

"He is, Liv. You did a great job with him."

"You've been here for most of it El, he's so much like you. It's amazing."

"I was just thinking about how much of you he has in him, actually."

Olivia laughed softly. "If he's got as much of each of us in him as the other thinks he does, we're in for it when he's a teenager."

"Don't even think about it. Let's just enjoy the time we have with him now." Ellot retorted with dry humor.

Olivia chuckled, and then grew serious once more, "I treasure everyday I have with him… and with you. Everyday that we're a family."

"I do too Liv, and we'll always be a family. I love you."

"I love you too, El. More than I can ever tell you." Olivia leaned in then to place her lips softly against her husband's. The kiss was sweet and tender. The passion they both knew would be expressed later simmered below the surface of this kiss, but it was mostly about love, about connection, about the partners…. and now family, they would forever be.


End file.
